1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to pressure sensors and, more particularly, to an integrated absolute and differential pressure sensor that can provide normalized, absolute and differential pressure measurements and outputs over a broad range of sub-atmospheric, atmospheric, and super-atmospheric pressures.
2. State of the Prior Art
In some process, control, or monitoring applications, it would be very beneficial to have the capability of sensing pressure and providing accurate and repeatable pressure measurement or control outputs over a broad pressure range, such as from 10−8 torr or lower to 103 (1,000) torr or higher. For example, in a physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) vacuum process chamber for depositing thin films of semiconductor materials on substrates or wafers to fabricate semi-conductor devices, a common deposition process practice may be some variation of the following: (i) Load the substrate or wafer into the vacuum process chamber at atmospheric pressure (e.g., about 600-770 torr); (ii) Close and seal the process chamber and evacuate it to 10−7 torr or less and hold it there for some period of time to remove all of the air, water vapor, and other potential contaminants, (iii) Back-fill the chamber with inert or over-pressure gas to bring the process chamber back up to about 10−3 torr, where it is maintained while process and carrier gasses are fed into the chamber to react or otherwise form a thin film of the desired semiconductor material(s) on the substrate or wafer, while effluents comprising gaseous by-products, unreacted and excess process gasses, and carrier gasses are drawn out of the process chamber; (iv) Stopping the process gasses; and (v) Back-filling the process chamber to increase the pressure in the chamber back to atmospheric pressure so that the chamber can be opened to remove the processed device.
Another approach is to keep the process chamber at the very low process pressure (vacuum) range used for the deposition processes, while a separate, often smaller, load lock chamber is used to handle the wafers before and after processing, i.e., to cycle between atmospheric pressure and process pressure to move the wafers into and out of the process chamber. The process chamber, when used with such a load lock, is only exposed to atmospheric pressure, therefore, when it is opened for servicing.
Such vacuum process and load lock systems currently require a plurality of different kinds of individual pressure sensors to measure and/or control pressures over such large ranges. For example, hot cathode pressure sensors are considered to be accurate and dependable for absolute pressure measurements in a range of about 5×10−10 to 5×10−2 , but they are not useful for pressures above 5×10−2 torr and have to be turned off to avoid burning out the filaments inside the hot cathode gauges. On the other hand, conventional convection pirani pressure sensors have absolute pressure measuring capabilities in a range of about 1031 3 torr to 1,000 torr, but they are not useful for pressures below 1031 3 torr, and they have a flat zone in a range of about 10 to 1,000 torr in which accuracy is low. A micropirani pressure sensor, such as the micropirani pressure sensor described in published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/907,541, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,171, which is incorporated herein by reference, can extend that range down to about 1031 5 torr and alleviate the flat zone, but that range still is not sufficient alone for many processes.
Further, absolute pressure sensors are problematic in applications such as the vacuum process chamber described above, because, while it may be desirable to open the process chamber door at or very near ambient atmospheric pressure, ambient atmospheric pressure varies, depending on elevation above sea level, weather patterns, and the like, so any particular set point of an absolute pressure sensor is unlikely to match atmospheric pressure consistently. Thus, a differential pressure sensor may be required in addition to the one or two different kinds of absolute pressure sensors described above to provide the required process pressure measurements and controls, which still does not address the flat zone problems, especially where critical process operations are required or desired at pressures that coincide with such flat zones.
The combination absolute and differential pressure transducer described in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/907,541, published on Jan. 16, 2003, (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,171, issued on Jan. 6, 2004) provides a beneficial combination of an absolute pressure sensor with a differential pressure sensor for controlling the opening or closing of interior and exterior doors and other functions of load locks for vacuum processing chambers of transfer chambers. However, the absolute pressure measurements and the differential pressure measurements are separate from each other, and it provides no way to obtain or track absolute pressures above the absolute pressure measuring capability of the absolute pressure sensor and through the differential pressure sensor ranges. Of course, one or more different types of absolute pressure sensors could be added to the combination to provide higher absolute pressure measurements in the higher, differential pressure measurement ranges, but such additional pressure transducers add to the cost of the process equipment and are still not truly integrated in their respective measurements. Many process chamber operators and quality control technicians would like to see an entire process pressure profile on a single absolute pressure scale from atmospheric pressure or higher and down to the lowest vacuum pressure and then back up through those ranges to atmosphere again.